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Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday said it was his right to eat beef and nobody can stop him, a statement aimed at Hindu right-wing parties which are campaigning for a complete ban on cow slaughter.

Speaking at a Youth Congress event, Siddaramaiah targeted the BJP and the Sangh Parivar and said, “I will eat beef now. Who are you to question me?”

He added, “I have not eaten beef till now but now I will. It’s my right.”

The lynching of a 55-year-old Muslim man, Mohammad Ikhlaq, by a mob in Bisada village of Uttar Pradesh last month following rumours that he slaughtered a calf brought the issue back into the limelight and triggered a wave of protests against attacks on freedom of choice.

“The killing of a Muslim man in Dadri for eating beef, the murder of Kalburgi, Pansare, Dabholkar the Dalit children in Haryana have thoroughly exposed the communal and casteist agenda of the BJP and the RSS,” Siddaramaiah said.

Siddaramaiah asked Youth Congress leaders to work for communal harmony and uphold the secular values of the party.

Around 40 writers and 12 filmmakers have returned their government awards in protest against the “growing intolerance in the country” and the murders of Kannada writer and Sahitya Akademi Award winner MM Kalburgi and anti-superstition activists Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare.

Over 50 historians , including Romila Thapar, Irfan Habib, KN Pannikar and Mridula Mukherjee, on Thursday came out strongly against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, castigating him for not making any reassuring statement following concerns over the “highly vitiated atmosphere” prevailing in the country.

Eminent scientist PM Bhargava, who is set to return his Padma Bhushan in protest, has called for a ban on the RSS and alleged it is against minorities and Dalits.

A senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader in Karnataka’s Shimoga has threatened to “behead” chief minister Siddaramaiah and “play football” with his severed head over the latter’s statement that he will eat beef.

SN Chanabasappa, BJP district secretary and close aide of former CM BS Yeddyurappa, made the statement at a protest meeting organised by the saffron party on Monday. The agitation was called to condemn Siddaramaiah’s remarks last Thursday on the Dadri lynching incident.

In a statement aimed at Hindu right-wing parties, which are campaigning for a complete ban on cow slaughter, the chief minister had said it was his right to eat beef and nobody can stop him.

Repeating his threat on Tuesday, Channabasappa told Hindustan Times, “If Siddaramaiah has guts, let him come to Shimoga and eat beef. If he thinks we will spare him, he’s wrong. Let him kill a cow and show, we will separate his head from his body and play football with it.”

Channabasappa, a former president of the Shimoga city council, said he doesn’t fear for his own life and challenged the state government to arrest him.

“What is wrong with what I am saying? Who is issuing provocative statements, me or the CM? Action should be taken against Siddaramaiah not me,” he said.

However, when asked if he was serious about killing Siddaramaiah, he said, “I did not say I will kill him. It is just a figure of speech. The people of this land who pray to the cow will do the job if he dares to provoke them.”

The BJP leader also said that it was Siddaramaiah’s duty to uphold the Constitution.

“The Constitution clearly says that cows are holy and need to be protected. By saying he will eat beef, he is insulting the Constitution,” he said.

Shimoga Police registered a case of criminal intimidation against Channabasappa based on a complaint by district Congress president, Prasanna Kumar.

The chief minister also said he has asked the police to look into the BJP leader’s comments and that action will be taken if his statement is true.

“It is a provocative statement... The BJP is known for such things that’s why we are opposing them. These people are known for intolerance. The government will take action against those who make provocative statements and spread intolerance. Nobody can threaten me,” Siddaramaiah told reporters.

The lynching of a 55-year-old Muslim man, Mohammad Ikhlaq, by a mob in Bisada village of Uttar Pradesh last month following rumours that he slaughtered a calf has brought the issue back into the limelight and triggered a wave of protests against attacks on freedom of choice.

Around 40 writers and 12 filmmakers have returned their government awards in protest against the “growing intolerance in the country” and the murders of Kannada writer and Sahitya Akademi Award winner MM Kalburgi and anti-superstition activists Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare.

Over 50 historians and scientists, including Romila Thapar, Irfan Habib, KN Pannikar, Mridula Mukherjee, PM Bhargava and others have come out strongly against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, castigating him for not making any reassuring statement following concerns over the “highly vitiated atmosphere” prevailing in the country.

"....As the jihad heats up in the West, the media is becoming more clumsy and desperate in its attempts to deflect attention away from the jihad and back to its favorite bogeyman, "right-wing extremists." - Pamela Geller.

The level of cognitive dissonance + political correctness + self-abuse + censorship throughout the liberal media - is the reason why right wing fascism is on the rise in Europe.

In India, how much blood has been spilt recently since 1993??

Yet the world never cared - meanwhile the liberal media chose every opportunity to highlight their sense of perceived intolerance in the subcontinent - what is unfolding in Europe was all waiting to happen but nobody would listen even when someone screams out the inevitable - and yet watch out for homilies from the liberals & blaming everything other than the real set of reasons/threat..

Feel sorry for Europe as such with their liberal and open borders policy ... UK has 1st/2nd gen from Pakistan raised and living in UK working against the same country which made them. They have zero nationalism and operate freely from their own pockets within London.

Now with refugees arriving from Syria it is said that some 800000 will reach Germany this year. I wonder how many jihadis are in the making. I'm not kidding here. Paris attacks were master minded by a someone raised in Europe (Belgian) and ones taking advantage of recent refugee influx.

Feel sorry for Europe as such with their liberal and open borders policy ... UK has 1st/2nd gen from Pakistan raised and living in UK working against the same country which made them. They have zero nationalism and operate freely from their own pockets within London.

It is not just Pakistanis but a vast number of Nigerians who are born and bought here go against this country , I remember the 07/07 attack back in 2005, I was on my way to work in the underground, when I got to work, every one was so relieved to see me, I had no idea as to what was going on, until they told me that there were bomb explosions in the underground and on a bus ... since then there has been racial tensions here, people used to think I was Pakistani and I used to get funny looks from people.

On the other hand I was terrified of travelling in the underground , at some point I was so paranoid, I tried to be extra vigilant ... the aim of these terrorist is to embed "fear" in your mind and they are successfully doing that!

another incident was when Kamal's Visvaroopam had all these controversy from the so called "Fringe" group I really wanted to see it to know what's all the fuss about.. I wanted to see it in cinema , but I was bit reluctant about it amidst security concerns, as to what these fringe Group can do, still I went to watch in cinema .. but rather than concentrating on the movie, I had to constantly look around to see who is sitting in front/beside/and back of me, such is the fear created by these people

I have very good friends from the Jewish and Christian communities - their personal beliefs can range from either the extreme orthodox to the extreme liberal - many of them are either ONLY culturally Jewish/Christian - meaning they celebrate Hanukkah, Chanukkah, Christmas, Easter or Rosh Hashanah - as a cultural thing - more than as a belief..

However, there is one thing that connects them all - a capacity to be rational, understanding, .. value freedom of expression, thinking positively about womens rights etc...

But the Islamic community is simply not doing enough to reform their centuries old barbaric doctrines...

There is absolutely no honest conversation amongst their educated class about why their youth is getting increasingly radicalized..

Unless a renaissance happens from within, their capacity to reform is zero/nil/zilch..

In this scenario, 1000s of refugees from Syria and Iraq - are perceived as potential threats to other countries - in fact one of the suicide bombers in the Paris attack slipped in as a refugee - already 4-5 states in the United States have said 'no' to refugees from Syria -http://abcnews.go.com/US/michigan-alabama-texas-refuse-accept-syrian-refugees-wake/story?id=35231800

People are not returning awards just based on riots. forget awards. it's the right which is in question. if you want to march the way they are saying fine , but do not force others.

So suddenly, the atmosphere has turned tolerant again overnight? Where are all the protesters now?
The answer: they will spring up in time for the next elections!

During Delhi elections, "Christians in danger" was the topic - it mysteriously went away after Kejriwal won. Alert social media users have posted proof that EVERY single incident showcased then had a non-Hindutva culprit behind it.

For Bihar, it was the "Intolerance"...

For UP, wonder what the theme would be....

When you see how naive the general public is, you can very well understand how seemingly weak groups/countries could easily run over and loot this country.

I have very good friends from the Jewish and Christian communities - their personal beliefs can range from either the extreme orthodox to the extreme liberal - many of them are either ONLY culturally Jewish/Christian - meaning they celebrate Hanukkah, Chanukkah, Christmas, Easter or Rosh Hashanah - as a cultural thing - more than as a belief..

However, there is one thing that connects them all - a capacity to be rational, understanding, .. value freedom of expression, thinking positively about womens rights etc...

But the Islamic community is simply not doing enough to reform their centuries old barbaric doctrines...

There is absolutely no honest conversation amongst their educated class about why their youth is getting increasingly radicalized..

Unless a renaissance happens from within, their capacity to reform is zero/nil/zilch..

In this scenario, 1000s of refugees from Syria and Iraq - are perceived as potential threats to other countries - in fact one of the suicide bombers in the Paris attack slipped in as a refugee - already 4-5 states in the United States have said 'no' to refugees from Syria -http://abcnews.go.com/US/michigan-alabama-texas-refuse-accept-syrian-refugees-wake/story?id=35231800

Whether it is the atheists (Dawkins etc) or social commentators (Harris, Maher), what stands out is the euro-centric blinkers.
There are quite a few 'modern' states that have codified Christian law that is as misogynistic & anti-gay; but they never get mentioned.
There does exist a wide spectrum of muslims - ranging from mystical, highly tolerant ... all the way to the fanatic. It is just that the West has systematically supported the fanatic over the moderate whenever there is a civil war... Notice how the moderate muslims (in India for eg.) never get any mention at all - except as victims...

This is the kind of India that right-wing Hindu fanatics want to create – a place where their religious beliefs dictate what Indians wear, what rights women are allowed, what you can eat for dinner, a place where the minorities (mainly Muslims and Christians) know their “place,” which is to cower before the Hindu majority.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, has always been closely affiliated with jingoistic Hindu groups aiming to usher in Hindu rule. Ever since Mr. Modi came to power almost 18 months ago, they have sensed that this is their big opportunity to push their conservative cultural agenda. One crucial aspect of this agenda is to ban beef throughout India, depriving millions – Muslims, Christians and millions of Hindus, too – of their right to eat it.

...
[/I]

So Modi has started this trend of controlling what's on your plate?

Here is the true story:http://indianexpress.com/article/exp...o-beef-nation/
Kerala, West Bengal and the North East are the only places where these are completely legal. All other states have at least some kind of restrictions on killing healthy cows. and these laws have been on the books for quite a while now...

Whether it is the atheists (Dawkins etc) or social commentators (Harris, Maher), what stands out is the euro-centric blinkers.
There are quite a few 'modern' states that have codified Christian law that is as misogynistic & anti-gay; but they never get mentioned.
There does exist a wide spectrum of muslims - ranging from mystical, highly tolerant ... all the way to the fanatic. It is just that the West has systematically supported the fanatic over the moderate whenever there is a civil war... Notice how the moderate muslims (in India for eg.) never get any mention at all - except as victims...

Valid points - but look at what Sam Harris says - it is not about painting the 1.6 billion muslims black - its about Islam as a set of doctrines not congruent with modern humanistic values which while most Muslims may/do not blindly literally follow, several well-laid out research polls have shown majority of ppl in countries like Nigeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan support some very heinous practices that were in vogue centuries ago, but not anymore in a modern society - it is about dogma that has no bearing in todays world - he does not spare Christianity or Judaism either if you have read 'Letters to a Christian Nation' or 'The End of Faith'..

What is Islam in the middle-east today is what Christianity was 500 years ago.. but the two Judeo-Christian religions have moved on, constantly reforming themselves..

Here is a very recent dialog with reformist Maajid Nawaz -

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep"
-Robert Frost

So Modi has started this trend of controlling what's on your plate? Here is the true story:http://indianexpress.com/article/exp...o-beef-nation/
Kerala, West Bengal and the North East are the only places where these are completely legal. All other states have at least some kind of restrictions on killing healthy cows. and these laws have been on the books for quite a while now...

Modi didn't start "this trend of controlling what's on your plate", but the extreme manifestations of intolerance started after Modi became the Prime Minister. The killing of an innocent man by fanatic hooligans (instigated by a temple priest), threat to decapitate the democratically elected Chief Minister of a State in the Democratic Republic of India because he said he might eat beef, and the police (controlled by the Central Government) raid of a canteen in New Delhi owned and operated by the Government of a State in India [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome...uffalo.htmlare] are some of the manifestations and examples of what appear to be "sanctioned" actions by "kar sevaks" of Modi's party.